Tag: hybrid cloud benefits

The future of cloud computing is a matter of hot debate. While some persist in one direction celebrating a unified and hybrid cloud, others have different prospects in mind altogether. Ever-changing cloud technology is rearranging its shape; the forces of business that guide cloud infrastructure have defined new dimensions for cloud technology as a whole.

In the recent years, a trend has evolved in which a more cautious approach is taken on the part of companies; they falsely assume that the cloud is profoundly metered and, therefore, become more judicious about what they move to the cloud. Indeed, they are unaware of the technological advancements that cloud has undergone or will undergo shortly.

One of the most remarkable advancements that have unfolded new dimensions for cloud migration is hybrid technology – a new kind of cloud computing environment that makes use of an amalgamation of on-premises, private cloud, and third-party, public cloud services with orchestration between the two platforms. Hybrid technology allows workloads to move between private and public clouds based on current computing needs and changes in cost, thereby, renders the enterprises greater flexibility and varied data deployment options.

The Hybrid Architecture
• The Hybrid cloud operates upon three primary components of modern-day cloud computing, namely:
• A public Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) platform, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform.
• The construction of a private cloud, either on-premises or through a hosted private cloud provider.
• Adequate wide-area network (WAN) connectivity between two environments.

In the hybrid cloud, with use of these three prerequisites, an enterprise can choose a public cloud (which is essential to access compute instances), storage resources, or other services, such as big data analytics clusters or serverless compute capabilities. Enterprises have to architect their private clouds to achieve compatibility with the desired public cloud(s), which involves the implementation of suitable hardware within the data center; this includes servers, storage, a local area network (LAN) and load balancers.

As a next step, the enterprise must deploy a virtualization layer, or a hypervisor, to create and support virtual machines (VMs) and, in some cases, containers. Then, IT teams must install a private cloud software layer, such as OpenStack, on top of the hypervisor to deliver cloud capabilities, such as self-service, automation and orchestration, reliability and resilience, and billing and chargeback. A private cloud architect typically generates a menu of local services, such as compute instances or database instances, which users can choose according to their need.

Selecting hypervisor and cloud software layers that are compatible with the desired public cloud and ensuring proper interoperability with the public cloud’s application programming interfaces (APIs) and services are the critical steps in creating a successful hybrid cloud; this also enhances the migration process between private and public clouds. A creative developer can create advanced applications by mixing the components of various services and resources across the public and private platforms.

Hybrid Cloud Benefits
Apart from flexibility, many other benefits result from the deployment of a hybrid cloud. For example, it enables an enterprise to deploy an on-premises private cloud to host sensitive or critical workloads and use a third-party public cloud provider to host less-critical resources, such as test and development workloads; this keeps security concerns intact while following the business protocols that are most effective.

Manages Fluctuating Workloads
A Hybrid cloud is also the perfect partner of fluctuating workloads; it is valuable for the workloads that are dynamic or highly changeable. For example, businesses that witness seasonal ups and downs in sales, therefore fluctuation in data, may benefit. These businesses can expand their cloud capacity by employing third-party public cloud for less confidential data in sync with their private cloud. The applications run on the private cloud but can use cloud bursting in a situation of extended computing demands through accessing additional computing resources from a public cloud.

Handling Big Data
Suppose in an unexpected situation; an enterprise has to expand its cloud capacity. That enterprise can access a third party public cloud for the sudden need and let go of the space when the need is no more – this saves big bucks for the firm. Additionally, if the firm has the requirement of extended cloud space for a long run, the hybrid cloud seems to be a better choice than a fully committed private area due to its flexibility, affordability, and ease of opting out.

The Mix of IT Services
Hybrid cloud also enables an enterprise to mix IT services and manage them in various combinations; this results in the creative use of cloud space and far better efficiency.